Authors Note—thanks again for the reviews.. I LOVE THEM. lol it really is sad how happy I get when I see I got one :-/.. haha.. okay well I just wanted to say thanks guys and keep em coming!!
((Ponyboy's POV))
The next day
Rrrrrrrrrrring. ((my awesome impression of the phone))
"Hello?" I said.
"Hey Pony, it's Kristina."
I knew who she was when she said "hey."
"Oh hey, Soda's not here, he's working."
"Oh.." she said sounding disappointed.
I rolled my eyes.
"Well how bout you bud? You wanna hang out?" she asked me.
"Me?"
"Hah, yeah you! We used to be best friends, just because me and Soda are.. well whatever we are, I still want to be your friend." She said and well she sounded pretty genuine.
"Yeah sure what do you want to do?" I asked.
"Hmm.. I don't know." I said. I wondered if it would be awkward hanging out with her alone. Probably not, she had a way of making you feel comfortable no matter what. Maybe it was the fact she was always herself no matter what the circumstance, like with Dally any other girl would've been nervous to meet him ,him being a rough looking hood. But no sirree, not her, she treated him like any other human and somehow I think he liked that.
"Well I'm kind of hungry.. how about I'll come over and we'll find somewhere to eat.. that is if you're hungry?" she asked me.
Truth is I just ate but hey I'll take what I can get.
"Alright see ya." I replied as cool as possible.
"See ya soon." She replied.
I took a shower as quickly as I could and changed into a decent looking shirt and jeans. I even put on some of Soda's cologne. Worked for him obviously. Then it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. What was I doing? Was I not just there yesterday when Soda said he really liked this girl? I could tell he wasn't bluffing either. Soda's the worst liar there is. I'm actually pretty good at lying, it's scary sometimes.
I sighed at put down the cologne. I'm just going to lay off for awhile. See where that takes me.
I heard her open the door. I smiled. She never knocked when we were little either. I guess she just felt a little awkward yesterday.
"Hey Ponyboy where are you hiding?" I heard her call.
"In my room" I called back and she walked in.
"Wow so this is you and Soda's room?" she asked looking around at everything. I was hoping she would look ugly today. Not that I'm just superficial and like people for looks but you know what I mean. But no of course she looked perfect as always.
"I'm beat." She said lying down on me and Soda's bed.
I laughed a little. "It's 2 o' clock in the afternoon." I said sitting down next to her.
"Yeah I know. What can I say? I'm lazy." She said pulling me down next to her.
"So what's new Ponyboy? I mean I haven't seen you in forever so don't say nothing I know you always got something interesting going inside that head of yours." She said with a wink. It was weird being this close to her though. I bet a lot of guys would die to be in my position.
"Well, I'm going into junior year." I stated. (I think in the book Pony is a sophomore but junior just works better with my story)
She sat up. "Really? Me too! What did you move up a grade?" she asked me.
Oh yeah. I completely forgot I'm in her grade ever since they moved me up a grade. This has potential..
"Yeah they moved me up. Do you have your schedule with you?" I asked her.
She laughed. "Sadly yes because I'm a dork and carry it around." She said taking it out of her purse.
I examined it. We had 4 classes together. She must be smart. Darry always yells at me because he doesn't understand how I'm so book smart without common sense. I can't help it.
"We got English, History, Algebra 2, Chemistry and well lunch." I read off our schedules.
"Hell yeah!" she said high-fiving me.
She laid back down. "Man Pony you sure have changed." She said staring at me.
I tried to raise my eyebrow like Two-Bit.
"No I haven't." I said.
"Sure you have. You always have this look on your face like your.. dreaming." She said looking at me like she was trying to study me.
"Yeah well I daydream all the time." I said shrugging.
"Me too. A little too much probably." She said half smiling.
"Yeah Darry doesn't have a clue how I bring home good grades since I lack common sense." I said rolling my eyes.
"Me too!" she laughed a little. "Well you know me Pony, and how I can lack in that department sometimes." She said smiling sheepishly.
I laughed. Yeah I definitely knew. We were always alike though.
I laid next to her and we just laid there for a minute or two not talking. The weird part was it wasn't awkward at all. It was actually very.. well comfortable.
"Hey Pony, what ever happened to Soda's horse?"
I sort of winced at that question. Man good thing she asked me and not him or he probably would've burst into tears on the spot.
"Somebody bought him.. man Soda was heartbroken." I told her.
"Poor Soda, he loved that horse more than anything." She said solemnly.
Suddenly Sandy came to mind. I wondered who Soda loved more. I'm going to take Sandy on that one, but if this were true, Soda must be in a hell of a lot of pain.
"And Pony.." she started.
"Yeah?" I asked.
She took a deep breath.
"I'm really sorry I didn't come to your parents funeral.." she almost whispered.
I tightened up. I always wondered why she didn't come. I mean they loved her and she loved them. And I knew she knew about it because her dad had sent us a card.
"Why" I asked somewhat coldly.
"Why... didn't I come?" she asked slowly.
"Yes."
"It was just.. I don't think I could ever bear to see your parents the same way I saw my mom. Seeing that absolutely killed me and well I just couldn't bring myself to go and see something so terrible again, but I'm so sorry Pony, if I could turn back time and go I swear I would. I was just so scared." She said and her eyes were full of water but I knew she wouldn't let the tears fall. She never really cried, not in front of us anyway. Well hell I could never stay mad at her now. She looked really pretty when her eyes were glistening like that.
"Don't cry Kristina, you know I'm not mad at you. I understand now, it's okay." I said sitting up and she sat up and gave me a hug.
"Did I ever tell you I'm glad we're friends?" she asked me smiling.
"Not recently." I said acting offended.
"Wellll I am!" she said and playfully punched me in the arm.
"Yeah that's nice." I said jokingly.
"Hey!" she said offended.
"Jussst kidding."
"Hey want to go visit Soda?" she said her eyes gleaming.
It took all I had not to roll my eyes.
"What about getting something to eat?" I asked.
"We can eat something at DX." She replied.
It's weird up until this point I kind of forgot her and Soda even kissed and that he liked her and she obviously liked him. I inwardly sighed.
"Sure lets go." I said.
